The president of the University of Notre Dame sent an email to all students Sunday night, informing them of the school’s decision to cover up an on-campus mural of Christopher Columbus.

“In recent years, however, many have come to see the murals as at best blind to the consequences of Columbus’ voyage for the indigenous peoples who inhabited this ‘new’ world and at worst demeaning toward them,” Jenkins wrote.

Jenkins added that the arrival of Columbus to the “new world” was a “catastrophe” for native Americans. He added, “whatever else Columbus’ arrival brought, for these peoples it led to exploitation, expropriation of land, repression of vibrant cultures, enslavement, and new diseases causing epidemics that killed millions.”